The Strong Points of Being a Loner
by Archiax
Summary: On Valentine's Day, Hikigaya Hachiman wonders the futility of such a cursed day. The black day reminds him of what he stands for: a solitary bear roaming the wilderness of the dominating carnivores and the cowering herbivores...


The Strong Points of Being a Loner

Chapter 1: Stealth Hikki

Ah, youth! What wonderful experiences you give me! Nothing quite stirs the loner heart like deep anxiety from socializing. Sitting in my chair, I waited in my homeroom for the class to begin. Since I was half an hour early, I watched all my other classmates filing into the room, dropping their school supplies by their desks, and going to their respective carnivore or herbivore groups. The carnivorous popular students grouped around each other, talking with their unnecessarily loud voices while the herbivorous nerds huddled into a square, seeking protection in their numbers.

I, being a loner and the majestic, solitary bear, was an omnivore and had the best of both worlds. Wait, actually, it was the lack of both worlds in my case. Currently, my head craned towards the scene behind me, toward Hayato Hayama and his friends. Isshiki Iroha and Miura Yumiko glared vehemently at each other while Hayama raised both of his hands to calm them down, an uneasy smile on his face. Both Isshiki and Miura gripped a box of chocolates in their hands. Oh yeah, the fact that it was Valentine's Day may have explained the situation better...

You see, fellow loners like me don't keep up to date with such uselessly trivial days like Valentine's Day. In fact, this black day is a grim reminder to loners that reality trumps a weekend at Akihabara or light novels. This cruel day causes such agony and misery to the wretched soul. The wretched soul, being the loner, wakes up on that pink and blissful day with a surge of excited expectations. He brushes his teeth, combs his hair, and wears the best set of clothes. He walks to school, a joyful bounce on the soles of his feet. Arriving at school, he sees the girls, holding pink boxes and a red fluster on their faces. His lips curve upwards, knowing that today is his day! As the school day continues, he observes that many of the boys are receiving the box full of chocolates from their respective crushes. He hasn't received one yet, but he remains unperturbed. Finally, the day passes and the sun has already begun to set. The room is barren of any life except for him. The smile that he had plastered on his face earlier in the day was frozen, uncertain and sorrowful. He hadn't received any chocolates and it was then that he truly realized that he was all alone...

Source: me-err, I mean my friend, Zaimokuza. Truly, such a saddening story pulled at my loner heartstrings... Anyway, the point is that Valentine's Day is a savage, pagan holiday that encourages superficiality and one-sided fascinations. It causes misinterpretations and needless anxiety. _Does a girl really like me? Am I really alone? Will I get chocolates on this day?_ All of these are unfulfilled expectations. Though, it serves me-Zaimokuza right for expecting such things. Okay, enough about Zaimokuza. Thinking about the chuuni for more than a minute is bad for one's health.

Getting back to the scene before me, the two girls, Isshiki and Miura, glared at each other, the tension crackling in the air. Their faces seemed to be at the verge of sneering and snarling. _Whoa, that's scary_. Yui Yuigahama nervously glanced between the three, first to Hayama, then Miura, and finally Isshiki.

"Ehehe..." she smiled, uncertain and anxious.

Quite suddenly, Yuigahama's eyes swiveled towards me, our eyes locking onto each other. Her eyes had hints of desperation and distress over what was unfolding in front of her. _Do something!_ Her eyes pleaded that thought into my conscious. I broke contact from Yuigahama and looked back at the two girls. After staring at them for a second with my wizened DHA-rich eyes, I turned my head back down towards my desk. No way. Even a bear had enough sense not to charge head-long towards a pack of rampaging wolves. Besides, I'd already preserved their superficial friendship once before...

The conflict was apparent. Those two girls were having a battle that decided who would give Hayama the chocolates. If it was any other day, this wouldn't have escalated as far as it did. However, this being the accursed Valentine's Day, the emotions of the student body was on an all-time high. This day acted as an outlet to substantiate relationships and fix one's loneliness. Whoever was able to successfully give Hayama their box of chocolates informally proclaimed their romantic relationship with him to the world. As I mused in my thoughts, I could feel a set of eyes boring into my neck. Yikes... who the heck was that? Must be Yuigahama... Seeing the dire situation and the mounting pressure, I activated Stealth Hikki. This was a skill I had refined in my many years as a loner, an invaluable treasure. It allowed me to deal with the challenges of everyday life with ease and optimized efficiency (ha-ha). Stealth Hikki allowed one to completely blend in with the environment, almost to the point of invisibility. It's disputed on how Stealth Hikki achieves its camouflage, through absorbing light or other people's emotions of disdain, but its utility is unquestionable.

So, as Yuigahama stared at Hikigaya Hachiman across the room wishing for his help, his already reduced presence diminished even further. _What the hell?_ She thought this and squinted her eyes to get a better look at him. _Did he just become slightly transparent!?_

Once the school-bell rang marking the end of all the classes today, I headed over to the Service Club room. The sun was still high in the sky and it was an unusually windy day. Arriving at the entrance of the Service Club room, I reached out and knocked on the door.

"Come in..." a light voice could be heard through the door. I opened the door and greeted the Service Club president, Yukinoshita Yukino.

"Yo."

"Hello," she said, glancing at me. Yukinoshita sat across the room, a book on her lap and a tea-cup on the table in front of her. She resumed her reading as I sat on my chair and took out the set of light novels I had planned to read for today. We sat in silence for a few minutes before Yukinoshita spoke.

"Hikigaya-kun... I believe we should do something in remembrance of Valentine's Day," she said, without looking at me. Before I could react to her words, she'd stood up and walked towards me. Once she reached me, she drew her face close to mine and then kissed me... After a moment, Yukinoshita withdrew, her cheeks flushed red and her eyes averted from mine.

"I didn't do this because I like you or anything, b-baka..." she said, unsure of herself.

 _Baka? What? How? Why?_ A surge of questions and emotions welled up inside m- I woke with a start. _Huh? Where am I?_ I hazily surveyed the room that I was in and realized that I was in the Service Club room. My heart was beating abnormally quick and I looked around, spotting Yukinoshita across the table, reading her book. In contrast, the Yukinoshita now exuded her normal ice-cold aura rather than moments before, when her face was flushed red. _Right, moments before!_ It instantly dawned on me that it was a dream! Somewhere after I had walked into the Service Club room and taken out my light novels, I must've dozed off! Out of the corner of my eyes, I stared at the real Yukinoshita. Her pale skin had a light tint to it and her black hair glistened from the sun beams through the window.

Gradually, I calmed my loner heart down. This was the first time that I had such a... moment... with Yukinoshita in a dream. Totsuka, often. But, Yukinoshita? Never. I'd never tell the Ice Queen about this. I could clearly imagine the disgust on her face if she ever got word of this strange dream.

After spending a minute to collect my bearings, I looked at the time. It seemed that I'd dozed off for 15 minutes and Yuigahama was nowhere in sight. We continued on in our silence for a while longer, Yukinoshita reading her book and me reading my set of light novels, before she broke the silence. She had placed the book on the table, by her tea-cup, and put her hand on her chin, as if thinking carefully on what to say.

"Hikigaya-kun... It's Valentine's Day," Yukinoshita said, her face in an expression of thought. My immediate response to this was thinking back to my dream just moments before. _No... It couldn't be..._ I was ready this time! Seeing me stare at her, Yukinoshita's contemplating expression suddenly changed. Her eyes narrowed at me and her lips formed into a frown.

"Frankly, your rotten-eyes staring so intently at me is disconcerting and repulsive," she said, disdainfully.

Ah, of course, no day of Yukinoshita's is complete without throwing a barb at my eyes... _Damn you, you're the one who initiated the conversation!_ Though, my expectations from the dream did make me seem a bit... unsavory. Before I could reply, Yukinoshita grabbed a box from under her chair and placed it on the table in front of her. The box was covered with a Pan-san gift-wrapping. _Wow, that's seriously cute..._ However, since it was Yukinoshita, the contents of it were questionable.

"...This is for you," she said.

"Huh... Okay? What's inside of it?"

"Chocolates... don't misinterpret... Yuigahama-san begged me last night to help her make some chocolates in preparation for today. Since she appeared on my doorsteps, I had no choice but to aid her. However, when we began to heat the chocolate mixture, I had to receive a phone call, leaving Yuigahama-san unattended in the kitchen. When I got back, I immediately realized that there was something horribly wrong with the mixture. So, wishing no harm on other humans or whoever Yuigahama-san attended to give the chocolates, I naturally thought to give them to you," she said, her face blank of any emotion.

"Right... something about 'wishing no harm on other humans,' right?" I pointed out.

"Oh, but germs mutate and evolve, despite the use of intensive antiseptics," she teased, a smile slowly beginning to form.

"The antiseptic being Yuigahama's Valentine's Day Massacre chocolates?"

She lightly smiled and pushed the box towards me. Seeing no reason to refuse, besides the obvious death label on it, I accepted it. At least Yukinoshita put the effort to gift-wrap the poisonous food. I took the box and put it into my backpack. However, looking back at Yukinoshita, I saw her staring at me.

"..."

"... Huh, is there something wrong?"

"No... it's nothing," she said, her eyes turning quickly back to her book. An uncomfortable silence passed between us before Yuigahama made her appearance. She barged through the door.

"Yahallo, Yukinon and Hikki!" she almost shouted.

"Yo."

"Hello."

After exchanging our greetings, she took a seat between Yukinoshita and I. Soon enough, the two girls began to talk and their voices melted into the Service Club room. Yuigahama did most of the talking. The gentle drone of their voices provided a strange sense of warmth and... belonging. How long would this last, I wondered? My thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

"Hikki! Are you even listening to me?" Yuigahama asked, an indignant expression on her face.

"Huh? What?"

"No... it's just... I was wondering if you wanted my left over chocolates?" she asked, her eyes lowered.

"...What?" I repeated. I failed to comprehend what she'd asked and the bewildered expression on my face made the situation awkward. I noticed that she had a pink, rectangular box in her hands. Yukinoshita looked at Yuigahama's box for a moment before she quickly looked away from it.

Yuigahama's face became tinted red and she pouted.

"I'm just giving you these... because I know don't get any chocolates! I felt sorry for you... so... I'm giving you my leftovers!" Yuigahama said, in a jumble of words.

 _Whoa, what? Where were these unnecessarily hurtful insults coming from?_ I narrowed my eyes. It must be Yukinoshita. No doubt that Yukinoshita was influencing Yuigahama with the scathing words she used against me.

"If it's your leftovers, I'd rather not tak-" I was immediately interrupted when Yuigahama shoved the box onto my hands.

I sighed, giving up and accepting the... the gift, if you could call it that? It wasn't worth it to fight over this, especially since I was getting food in return. I sure hoped that Yukinoshita closely watched Yuigahama in the kitchen when she made these particular chocolates... I also realized that I could give this to my sister, Komachi. How kind and big-hearted your brother truly is, Komachi! Surely, this would scale high in Komachi points. As I thought these thoughts, a smile began to form from the notion. Yuigahama, seeing the lazy smile form on my face, also smiled back at me.

After the day's events were done and the Service Club received no requests, I headed home, the wind blowing across my hair. Once reaching my house, I opened the door and went inside. Immediately, I was greeted with the sight of Komachi smiling slyly at me. She had taken notice of the box of chocolates Yuigahama had given me.

"What's this? Onii-chan is carrying something suspicious!" she exclaimed.

 _What the heck? What's with that look that said "where did you steal those chocolates from?"_ I also took out the poisoned chocolates that Yukinoshita gave me.

"Yukinoshita and Yuigahama gave me these..." I explained.

"What? Seriously?"

 _Whoa, what's with that doubtful look?_ That was definitely not cute.

"Well, can Komachi-chan get some?" she pleaded, a slight smile on her face. I sighed and was about to give her Yukinoshita's box when I realized that I was about to poison her. The big-hearted brother that I am, I knew I couldn't do such a thing. Instead, I handed her the box that Yuigahama gave me, the one approved by Yukinoshita.

Tired after the day's events, I went into my room, wondering when my dream of becoming a house-husband would finally be fulfilled. Until then... I could only yearn...

Without noticing, I realized that I had accidently carried Yukinoshita's box into the room with me. After sighing once more, I resolved myself and opened up the box. _Do your worst, Yuigahama!_ I surveyed the chocolates for a moment before deciding that there was nothing that stood out contrastingly wrong.

I took one of the chocolates and popped it into my mouth, my eyes closing in preparation for the onslaught of venom that was about to course through my body. However, I was greeted with something unexpected. It was ice cold... but also surprisingly sweet...


End file.
